"Mujib Swailih was beaten with truncheons several times" by police deployed in force around the sit-in before being taken to a police station where the cameraman "was insulted", one of the station's employees said.

Released

Swailih was released after several hours and taken to hospital.

"Mujib Swailih was beaten with truncheons several times"

Unnamed Al-Arabiya employee

Dubai-based Al-Arabiya denounced what it said was "a hostile mobilisation campaign towards journalists, particularly correspondents from foreign media, targeted by defamation in government newspapers" in Yemen.

Yemeni police were not immediately available for comment.

Yemeni newspaper editor Jamal Amir said in August that he had been abducted and beaten by armed men claiming to act on behalf of military officers and wanting to know about his sources.

Journalists have reported a concerted campaign of abuse and harassment by the government in recent weeks.

Al-Thawra, the government-run daily newspaper, has carried editorials over the past several days accusing reporters of being "agents of foreign intelligence networks" that seek to hurt Yemen's image by claiming that it harbours terrorists.